Vientiane, Laos to
Luang Prabang, Laos

Our flight was with Lao Aviation and we had read the travel warnings on the US Embassy site about them. They had advised their diplomatic staff to not take Lao Aviation unless absolutely necessary but this is the only way to Luang Prabang and our tour company had assured us that the bombings were a long time ago and those people where captured. There was absolutely no proof of any capture and we heard various stories. We were not the only ones who whipped out a camera on the tarmac to photograph what we believed to possibly be our last flight. There is no such thing as a holding pattern or waiting for take off here. The plane goes to the end of the runway and turns right around and takes off before you've had a chance to use the wet nap the airline stewardess has passed out.

We flew over mountains to the old capital city and I fall in love. The temperature was milder with less humidity and the hills were lush. We went to the Phou Vao Hotel to check in and our guide later picked us up to take us to Vat Phousy, Vat May & Vat Visoun. That Pathum (Lotus Stupa) is located just outside of the Vat Visoun and is called the watermelon stupa in my less than accurate book but a woman's stupa by our guide because it's shape is like a breast. "Looks like a nipple." We visited Vat Xieng Thong (Golden City Temple) where the young novice monks pounded on a drum at 4:00PM. Most of us were drawn outside to take pictures when I noticed that Robert had sidled up right next to the small building they were in. He was going for the close-up shot of them. Around back we noticed that some German tourists with tattoos were showing them off to the giggly monks. Another tourist walked through the temple with divining rods so little surprised me.

We watched the sunset from That Chom Si on the peak of Phu Xi. Hoards of tourists had made the climb up the numerous stairs so the peak is crowded with wine drinking & smoking Australian backpackers, crowds of German, Japanese and a few American tourists mixed in. We all jostled for position to watch the sun slip down and carefully edit out the tourists from our award winning photographs

Back at the hotel after dinner out, I was distraught and homesick. I begged to call my parents on Christmas even though it is $6 a minute. My promised two-minute call was comic as my father keeps asking 'Where are you?' and I say 'Laos'. 'Where?' 'LAOS' .

There is a gecko that lived outside our hotel room and before going to sleep, I opened the door and said 'Goodnight baby' to it.

The next day we take a slow boat up the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Caves. It was cold enough that our fleece pullovers were a godsend and our guide was frozen in his seat. We stopped to see a rice-wine village on the way. Chickens were all over the barrels and interested in the fermented rice. Back in the boat, we continued on up to Pak Ou Caves that are located in the cliffs. The first cave located half way up the hill has a view of the river. The other cave is higher up and deeper into the mountain. Our guide told us that people hid here during wartime throughout history including the Vietnam War. Many of the Buddha statues were also taken out the country and I start to have pangs of guilt over purchasing the Buddha in Bangkok.

We had a driver for dinner and were once again steered to one of the more westernized places. Our view of the garden afforded us a view of the numerous tourists milling into the restaurant steered by their tour guide and our seeds of revolt are sewn to rebel against the conveyor belt. The server brought us out food that we have not ordered which we send back. Picking our own items from the menu was a top priority. We've become enamored with khai paen, which is fried seaweed.

After dinner we told our driver to wait for one hour so we could walk in town. Our goal was an Internet cafe and they were easy enough to find. Problem was that the whole World Wide Web was down in Luang Prabang that evening.

Back to the hotel to sleep.

Good night baby.

Learn more about Luang Prabang:

• Lao Embassy
• Stalking the Elephant Kings - Christopher Kremmer